The embodiments described herein relate generally to protection systems and, more particularly, to methods, systems, and apparatus for automated switching to a maintenance mode.
Known electrical distribution systems include a plurality of protection devices within equipment such as switchgear. The protection devices may be circuit breakers, or similar devices, that are coupled to one or more loads. The protection devices typically include a trip mechanism that measures current flowing to the loads and causes the device to trip if the current is outside of acceptable operating conditions. In some systems, one or more protection device provides power and protection to other protection devices located on a bus or another downstream protection device.
At least some known protection devices are operable in at least two protection modes: a normal protection mode and a maintenance mode. In the normal protection mode, current thresholds (also known as “pickup” thresholds) that identify undesired current levels are set to protect equipment, such as a load or other protection devices. The maintenance mode is commonly activated by a person when the person will be interacting with a load or protection device downstream from a protection device. In the maintenance mode, the protection device's settings are adjusted to make it more sensitive to undesired current levels and, if possible, decrease the amount of time needed by the protection device to react to an undesired current level. Thus, a protection device is easier and/or quicker to trip when the maintenance mode is enabled. The maintenance mode of a protection device is typically manually enabled and disabled by a person. Failure of a person to enable a maintenance mode in a protection device in some known systems increases the danger to a person working downstream from the protection. Failure to return the protection device from the maintenance mode to the normal protection mode may increase the likelihood that the protection device will trip unnecessarily.